Alfa Romeo Raises Price of 2018 Giulia Quadrifoglio

There have been reported problems with Alfa Romeo’s resurrection—frequent recalls, nagging electrical issues, and delivery delays. Despite this, we still want Alfa Romeo to succeed but now the company has announced that it has raised the price of its top-spec Giulia Quadrifoglio.

Originally when launched, the 2017 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio cost customers a hefty $73,595. According to CarsDirect, for the 2018 model year, Alfa has raised the price $1,500 which brings the grand total to $75,095.

That’s a pretty large pill to swallow, especially when its performance competitors, the BMW M3, Mercedes-AMG C63, and Cadillac ATS-V, all start well below $70,000.

Yet, those additional 1,500 bones do get you more car, as it adds a few items that were originally optional, including a 14-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, forward collision warning, and automatic emergency braking. It must be said though, that these systems could be had for only $1,400 in the 2017 model, $100 less than the new price increase.

With lackluster sales, you’d think the go-to move for Alfa Romeo would be to slash the price of the Giulia QV, bring it in-line with the rest of its competitors, or even going so far as to undercut those American-German rivals. Even with the heaps of great press, including us, we’re not sure the market is there for a price increase. As of last month, Alfa Romeo has only sold 4,578 Giulias total.

The number of QVs is only a small fraction of that, so maybe the price increase won’t hurt Alfa’s total sales, but with such low sales numbers compared to the rest of the industry, can Alfa Romeo afford to lose any sales?

There are also the rumors that FCA, Alfa Romeo’s parent company, is thinking about selling the Italian brand along with Maserati, which doesn’t paint a good picture for the revival of the Italian brand here in the U.S.

2018 Giulia QVs will start hitting dealership lots soon, but it won’t be until next year that we see if this price increase hurts or helps sales.